Position Title: Chief Development Officer
Reports to: Chief Executive Officer
Supervises: Director of Development; Grant Writer; Marketing and Development Coordinator; contracted vendors
Summary of Position: Founded in 2008, Circle the City (CTC) is a 501c3 community health organization dedicated to providing compassionate, high-quality healthcare to people experiencing homelessness throughout Maricopa County. The organization operates a one-of-a-kind, homeless-specialty continuum of care that has quickly become one the premiere models of its kind across the nation. CTC’s programs operate within the designation of Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), and includes two innovative freestanding 50-bed homeless medical respite centers, two integrated medical/behavioral family health centers and a robust community health outreach program. Today, these programs serve more than 6,500 homeless men, women and children In Maricopa County, AZ each year.
The Chief Development Officer (CDO) is responsible for comprehensive and best practice planning, directing and monitoring the philanthropic efforts and results of the organization, including, but not limited to: major donor initiatives, with an emphasis upon pipeline development for legacy/planned giving, grant awards and administration, public and private partnerships, annual and/or capital campaigns, and donor-centric special events. The CDO functions as the organization’s primary major gifts officer, with a portfolio of 125-150 qualified prospects under management and allocates 70% of his/her time researching, cultivating and soliciting gifts >$10,000 from individuals, corporations, and foundations. The balance of his/her time is focused upon functional leadership/mentoring and addressing assigned initiatives.
Essential Responsibilities:
Duties include, but are not limited to:
- Serves as a key member of CTC’s Senior Leadership Team and one of the organization’s top ambassadors to the surrounding community. Conducts his/herself with the highest degree of professionalism, transparency and respect;
- Collaborates with CTC’s Board, CEO and senior leadership team on the development and implementation of annual strategic plan;
- Develops, monitors and achieves net fundraising targets and key performance indicators for the development team. Reports progress to CEO and Board of Directors on a monthly basis;
- Partners closely with the organization’s Development Committee Chair to offer subject matter expertise, guidance and support to the Board Development Committee members to achieve fundraising goals;
- Collaborates and consults with the CEO and senior leadership on historical fundraising achievement, integration to the current strategic plan and gap analysis of revenue-to-expenses to propose fundraising targets and segmentation. Drafts and presents an annual Development Plan that incorporates a high level of revenue stream diversification methodology that results in adoption by the Board of Directors;
- Organize and direct all personnel and activities related to Circle the City’s philanthropic work;
- Meet or exceed fundraising and development targets established within annual budgeting process. Participate in the development of future operating and capital plans. Develop other key metrics and targets to monitor the organization’s philanthropic activity;
- Develop and implement appropriate gift policies and procedures that are in accordance with federal, state, and local laws pertaining to charitable gifts, inclusive of a compliant donor database system, to include soft credit, dual donor recognition, pledges and restricted gifts;
- Develop and implement a standardized system, i.e., Moves Management, that tracks the research, cultivation/engagement, solicitation and gift agreement of major donors, inclusive of planned/legacy prospects. Serves as subject matter expect and in-house advisor to senior leadership, providing guidance and direction in the cultivation and/or solicitation phase;
- Support recurring annual fundraising events – via both direct involvement indirect allocation of departmental resources;
- Serves as a partner to the Chief Human Resource Officer to build a culture of employee and volunteer philanthropy and create a model of Employee / Volunteer Community Ambassadors;
- Oversee all facets of the organization’s marketing and communications activities, with focus on donor relations inclusive of marketing, community outreach collateral materials, and social media in accordance to established policies;
- Identify and develop relationships with estate planning attorneys, tax advisors, financial planners, bank trust officers and community foundation personnel to provide a pathway for their clients to include Circle the City in their legacy plans;
- Create a formalized planning giving/Legacy Society strategy, inclusive of donor segmentation and donor pyramid building, projected preliminary prospect values, appropriate education materials, VIP events/seminars and other relevant activities in partnership with the future Circle the City Legacy Society Committee.
Job Requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree in relevant field; Master’s degree preferred. CFRE designation highly desirable.
- Minimum 10 years progressively responsible experience in the design, implementation, execution and growth of a comprehensive fundraising program within a complex organization is required. Candidates possessing experience in planning giving highly desirable.
- Demonstrated leadership experience and a proven ability to design and implement effective philanthropy strategies and processes are required.
- Experience with developing and leading a full fundraising program including: direct mail, annual campaigns, foundations and corporate grants, major giving and planned giving.
- Demonstrated track record of successful solicitations from a variety of constituencies, including the design and execution of identification, cultivation solicitation and stewardship strategies is required.
- Proven experience in principal, major and foundation gifts cultivation, solicitation and stewardship and managing a personal portfolio of principal and major gift donors and/or prospects.
- Demonstrated success in increasing the effectiveness of a fundraising unit through established objectives and performance standards to encourage best performance of the development/fundraising staff. Proven experience as a leader, as well as coach and counselor, to staff that will enable them to grow their skill levels and increase their successes in cultivating and soliciting highly-rated donors.
- Excellent organization and communication skills. Comfortable operating in a self-directed and outcomes-focused capacity.
- A deep appreciation for and an ability to successfully articulate the unique and focused mission of Circle the City.
- Familiarity with Raiser’s Edge, Salesforce, Donor Perfect or other best practice CRM platforms is required. Candidates with PG Calc, Crescendo, or other relevant planning giving system desired.
